Kolkata: Urdu was on Monday declared as official
language in West Bengal in respect of certain districts where
Urdu-speaking population exceeds 10 per cent.

The state Assembly passed the West Bengal official
language (amendment) bill, 2012, declaring Urdu as official
language in respect of certain districts where the population
of urdu-speaking people exceeds 10 per cent as a whole or part
of the district like sub-division or block.

Moving the bill, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who
holds minority affairs department, said that the state
government had earlier given official language status to
Nepali language.

She said the state government had already decided to
given official language status to Gurmukhi and Santhali
languages.

A bill to this effect would be brought in the next
session of the House, she said.